“Ye are the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:1313Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (Matthew 5:13)). Salt is the only thing that cannot be salted, because it is the preservative principle itself; if this is gone, it cannot be replaced. “If the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?” The salt of the earth is the relation of the disciples here to that which already had the testimony of God; therefore the Spirit of God uses the expression “earth” (or land), which was especially true of the Jewish land then. Now, in our day, if you speak about the earth, it is Christendom — the place that enjoys, either in reality or professedly, the light of God’s truth. That is what may be called the earth. And this is the place which will finally be the scene of the greatest apostasy, for apostasy is only possible where light has been enjoyed and departed from. In the Revelation, where the closing results of the age are given, the earth appears in a most solemn manner, and then we have the peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues — what we should call heathen lands. But the earth means the once-favored scene of professing Christianity, where there have been all the energies of the mind of men at work. It is the scene where the testimony of God had once shed its light — then, alas! abandoned to utter apostasy.
The faithful ones in Israel were the real preservative principle there; all the rest, the Lord intimates, were good for nothing. But more than that. He gives a solemn warning that there is a danger that the salt should lose its savor. He is not now speaking of the question of whether a saint can fall away or not. The Lord is not here raising the question whether life is ever lost, but He is speaking of certain persons who are in a favored position. Among them there might be persons who had believed carelessly or even falsely, and then there would be the fading away of all that they had once had. And He shows what their judgment would be — the most contemptuous possible, to be passed upon that which took so high a place without reality.
The Light of the World
“Ye are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:1414Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. (Matthew 5:14)). This is another thing. Bearing in mind the distinction drawn in the series of the beatitudes and of the persecutions, we have the key to these two verses. The salt of the earth represents the righteous principle. The salt of the earth involves the clinging to the eternal rights of God and the maintenance before the world of what is due to His character. That was gone when what bore the name of God fell below what even men thought proper. You can hardly read the news today but that you find scoffing against what is called religion. Respect is gone, and men think that the condition of Christians is a fair subject for their ridicule.
But now, in verse 14, we have not only the principle of righteousness, but of grace — the outflowing and strength of grace. And here we find a new title given to the disciples, as descriptive of their public testimony — “the light of the world.” The light is clearly that which diffuses itself. The salt is what ought to be inward, but the light is that which scatters itself abroad. “A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” It was diffusing its testimony everywhere. Man does not light a candle to put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, “and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” After this manner, “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (vs. 16).
Two Striking Testimonies
We see here, then, two striking sketches of the testimony of believers here below, as the salt of the earth, the preservative energy in the midst of profession, and as the light of the world, going out in activity and love towards the poor world. There is also the danger of the salt losing its savor and of the light being put under a bushel. Now we find the great object of God in this twofold testimony. It is not merely a question of the blessing of souls, for there is not a word about evangelization or saving sinners, but rather the walk of saints. There is a serious question that God raises about His saints, and this is about their own ways apart from other people. Calls to the unconverted we find abundantly elsewhere, and none can exaggerate their importance for the world, but the sermon on the mount is God’s call to the converted. It is their character, their position, their testimony distinctively, and if others are thought of throughout, it is not so much a question of winning them, as of the saints reflecting what comes from above. This light is what comes from Christ. It is not, Let your good works shine before men. When people talk about this verse, they are evidently thinking about their own works, and when that is the case, there are generally no good works at all. But even if there were, works are not light. Light is that which comes from God directly and purely, without admixture of man. Good works are the fruit of its work upon the soul, but it is the light which is to shine before men. It is the disciple’s confession of Himself; that is the point before God. Confess Christ in everything. Let this be the aim of your heart. It is not merely certain things to be done. The light shining is the great object here, though doing good ought to flow from it.
Good Works
If I make doing good everything, it is a lower thought than that which is before the mind of God. An infidel can feel that a shivering man needs a coat or blanket. Even a natural man may be fully alive to the wants of others; but if I merely take these works and make them the prominent thing, I really do nothing more than an unbeliever might. The moment you make the good works the object, and their shining before men, you find yourself on common ground with Jews and heathen. God’s people are thus destroying their testimony. What is so bad as a thing done professedly for God, but that leaves out Christ, and that shows a man who loves Christ to be on comfortable terms with those that hate Him? This is what the Lord warns the saints against. They are not to be thinking about their works, but that the light of God should shine. Works will follow, and much better works than where a person is always occupied with them. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Let your confession of what God is in His nature and of what Christ is in His own person and ways — let your acknowledgment of Him be the thing that is felt and brought before, men — and then, when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father which is in heaven. Instead of saying, What a good man such an one is, they will glorify God on his behalf. If your light shines, men then connect what you do with your confession of Christ.
W. Kelly (adapted)